Vicious Circle
2002 TRT: 35:22 Drama Devon Meyer is a hitman, the best in his organization. After having to 'retire' one of his co-worker friends, he comes home to his girlfriend Julia. She is on the edge, numbing herself with painkillers, and trying to forget what Devon does for a living. She asks him to get out of the business, something Devon can't do easily. Especially with a powerful boss watching over his every move, and hotshot new recruit Locke gunning for his job. This starts Devon on a surreal journey through his own subconscious, filled with mysterious symbols, dream sequences, and even more death, with his only guidance a seemingly crazy but also seemingly omnipotent homeless man. Based on an episode of Hitchcock Presents. Cast Category:Alan Winston Category:Erin Arbogast Category:Ben Kregar Category:Shawn Waldow Category:K. Shawn Edgar Category:Jenn Edgar Category:Kurt Loyd Category:Jonason Ho Production Crew Category:Alan Winston Category:Warren Blyth Category:K. Shawn Edgar Category:Casey Campbell Category:Jonason Ho Category:Ben Kregar Category:Jeff Welk Category:Jeanette Arbogast Category:Rob Merickel Category:Kurt Loyd Category:K Shawn Edgar Category:Luke Barrett Category:Shawn Waldow Category:Jack Jones Festival Selections *2006 Mid-Valley Video Festival *2003 PREwind Video Festival *2002 REwind Video Festival Awards & Nominations 2006 Mid-Valley Video Festival *Top Action Short (winner) 2003 PREwind Video Festival *Best in Show (winner) 2002 REwind Video Awards *Best Score - John Brugman (nominated) Trivia *The new boom mic used on the first couple of shoots was completely malfunctional, and one of the scenes had its entire audio signal knocked out. The scene was completely ADR-ed, with all lines and sound effects rerecorded and added in. No one's been able to tell which scene it is so far, which is cool. *The first indoor scene had to be redone as well. We attempted to use a different, softer lighting rig, but the footage came out completely dark. The scene was reshot with the usual bright lights and worked out quite nicely. *The crew was banned temporarily from EyeControl Technologies, where the office hit scene took place. After doing thousands of cents worth of damage to some empty boxes, the crew had their shooting priveleges revoked. A week later, they were let back in to finish shooting the scene. *Despite more pyrotechnic effects than any other production, no one was hurt, and Alan was only minorly singed. *Shattering sugar glass doesn't actually hurt, but as we found out, laying down on it for a prolonged period of time can have some minor negative side effects. It is sugar after all, and therefore can be extremely sticky. So, if someone were lying in it... you get the picture. *The script for this movie went through three different drafts. Lost from the previous drafts was a different and extended ending with Devon still working as a hitman and murdering another couple. *Originally, all of the 'surreal' scenes were one big scene at the ending of the movie, but it was cut up and rearranged to spread out the strangeness. Not sure if it was the right call... *The scene with Devon and Locke in the car was originally much shorter, in keeping with Locke as a mostly silent character. But to explain some of the relationships and tie up some loose ends, he was given a bit more dialogue. *The scene where Devon hits David Campbell was originally much more complex, ending with him shooting out of one building into the window of another at the mysterious cameraman. Commentary Hmmm. This movie is still so recent, it's tough to get a proper perspective on it. But still, I suppose I should comment. This movie was actually my senior project as part of my college degree. So, first off, I had only two months to take this movie from concept to completion. And we actually did get it finished exactly on schedule (erm, besides the music score, which is out of my hands and still unfinished...). So, no matter how well this one turned out, I was very happy to get a project actually done on time after two years or so of everything being dreadfully late. That said, I was very happy with how this one turned out. I had always wanted to do a hitman movie (seems like it's something you just have to do when you have an amateur movie group), and it took ten years to get around to one. Erin saw an old Alfred Hitchcock presents episode with the same basic plotline, modified it, and wrote a story based on that modification. I enjoyed the story, modified it even more, and added all the strangeness. Still never have seen the show that the movie was kind of based on - can't seem to find it anywhere. Anyway, I went into the production of this movie by completely changing my approach, cinematically and editing-wise, anyway. I concentrated much more on composition in the frame, and tried to get many more long shots, as opposed to the usual claustrophic style I exhibit. Lighting was much more important too, with a real concentration on light and shadow, and the meaning of all of the different color filters we used for each location. The editing was slowed down as well. I was trying to put across more of a feeling of measured calm and building dread, as the editing pace generally picks up the closer you get to the end. There were a lot more shots that are simply held instead of jumping around between a dozen angles like I normally do. Though, I did add a bit of that later on. I also think that this movie contains our best audio and special effects work to date. If you've read the 'onset disasters' section of the page, you'd know about how much ADR and foley work went into this movie. There are probably more original sound effects in this movie than any other, as there are a few sequences where all of the audio is entirely post-produced. It's probably a good thing that no one notices how much work went into it - if you do your job right, it's supposed to be seamless. As for the effects, a big thanks has to go out to Rob Merickel, who hooked us up with a squib unit and even rigged up my gun with a squib so that it would muzzle flash and smoke when Ben pulled the trigger. Very cool. We did a bit of our own pyrotechnics in the movie as well, and we (I, anyway) had a lot of fun taping bottle rockets to all manner of things and using them for explosion effects. Last but not least was the 'crawling out of the TV' scene. I got the sugar glass recipe from Marc Linn of Linn Productions, and it worked out quite well. I hollowed out a broken-down TV we had at the station, and lucked out big when the glass Erin's grandma made turned out to be just the right size to install where the screen used to be. Glad I fit through the hole in the TV, too. Heh. Anyway, doing the effects work on this movie was definitely the most fun I had working on the movie. I also finally broke out of the 'everything shot in the studio' rut that I had been in, and got up to Portland to do a lot more location shooting than usual. Pretty sure that helped a lot too. So, with all these components, did it turn out to be a successful movie? It's early yet, but as of right now... I have no idea. Most of the people who have seen it are either completely baffled by it, or find the symbolism painfully hit-you-over-the-head obvious. But almost everyone seems to at least appreciate the style and the forethought put into the movie, even if the story leaves them confused. Just for the sake of it, here's a handy guide to the symbols for those confused: The Dolls --> Disposable, The Victim --> Julia The Coin --> The Positives of the Job --> Rejected by the Bum --> Embraced by Locke Paper --> One-dimensional, malleable, could be money, could be garbage --> Devon Meyer Cookie Cutter --> This one was just a joke about the characters in the movie. Cookie cutter. Generic. Get it? Bad pun... TV --> The Negatives of the Job --> Eternal entrapment --> Jordon, then Devon And that's about it. So, personally, how do I feel about the movie? It's one of my favorites. I kind of wish that the movie was more positively recieved, but oh well. I probably put more detail and thought into this one than any other movie before, and for the most part, I think it works. Even though the ending is kind of abrupt, and on some level I'm not really sure if the movie has the impact I was hoping for, I think I surpassed my main objectives: make something entertaining, on time, and by trying something new directorially, editing-wise, and special effects-wise. Oh, and I got an A on the project, and that's what's important. I suppose... ''-Alan Winston'' Multimedia Image Gallery Tvpunch.jpg Shot.jpg Locke.jpg Jordon rena.jpg Devon shot 2.jpg Devon 3.jpg Devon 1.jpg Alan waldow 1.jpg Tvescape low.jpg Locke shoot 1.jpg Julia 1.jpg Hole.jpg Devon julia 2.jpg Devon 2.jpg Bum 1.jpg Alan ben 1.jpg Category:2002 Productions Category:Drama